A 63-year-old homeless man who broke into Santa Monica Bistro on Sunday, Sept. 23 was happy to explain to Santa Monica Police Department officers how he committed the crime when he was stopped near the crime scene.
At 1:53 a.m. officers rushed to the bistro, located at 2301 Santa Monica Boulevard, in order to investigate a burglary.
When the officers arrived they noticed a window had been smashed out, and also that the door was ajar.
The officers reviewed the security television surveillance footage and watched a film that depicted a man smashing the window and entering the restaurant.
The officers then continued investigating and as they were they stopped a pedestrian, who had aroused their suspicions, at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and 12th Street.
The officers spoke with this man and he immediately volunteered that it was he who had broken into the bistro that early morning.
He even continued to explain in detail exactly how he had done this, and the officers had no doubt in their minds that this man was telling the truth as his story correlated perfectly with the film that they had witnessed earlier from the surveillance tape.
This elderly homeless man was taken to jail whereupon he was charged with burglary. His bail was set at $20,000.
Editor’s Note: These reports are part of a regular police coverage series entitled “Alert Police Blotter” (APB), which injects some minor editorial into certain police activities in Santa Monica. Not all of the Mirror’s coverage of incidents involving police are portrayed in this manner. More serious crimes and police-related activities are regularly reported without editorial in the pages of the Santa Monica Mirror and its website, smmirror.com.
